True. Sadly
No, it isn’t. I wonder if there are any circumstances, not limited to this one, whereby a cardinal would gracefully bow out of voting for, say, a religious equivalent to ‘a conflict of interest’ or any other reason…
We do need to think of the Church as an extended family. We have had some really black sheep, even among popes. but it is hard to disown a family member.
Mahoney is not the only cardinal who ought to bow out, but probably won’t. Law comes to mind.
And yet it is done. Mine doesn’t seem to care that I was facing homelesness. They just said,“Well good like with that.” So I am not suggesting that. I am suggesting ongoing communication with their family with accountability. If my brother, who initially said, “well good luck with that’” commited a crime beyond any doubt, he would still be my brother, my family. I’d still dislike him for personal reasons (but that’s another dialogue).
Let’s see some real evidence that the Pope or the Vatican “impeded” anything. I am tired of hearing that Pope Benedict or the Vatican intentionally “covered-up” sex abuse. Enough with the innuendo and false accusations. Time for the Freemasons to put their cards on the table.
I see this as as getting to the crux of the matter but I don’t necessarily agree with your path getting there.
But if you disown an uncle he is still an uncle. A bishop is still on of the “elect" of the Church. Even Judas served as an apostle, and might have been forgiven if he had not been crushed by his inability to accept grace. More to the point, we ought to get rid of the idea of the cardinals, for instance being regarded as “princes” of the Church. To whom much is given, much is expected. If some poor snook who gets a divorce automatically is barred from the sacraments, then how is it that a Mahoney or a Law is not subject to a proportionate punishment?
good point…I am barred for being different, not for position.
The bishops didn’t need that power. All they had to do was to set these priests adrift, let them survive on their own, with no support from any diocese. The problem is that these guys always had chums who took them in. Did the bishops never hear of a blacklist? It is cruel but effective.
Validly ordained bishops have the power to ordain other bishops. That power can’t be removed. Punishing a bishop is tricky. He could start a new schism.
As if one did not already exist? Mahoney has been ordaining his soul-mates where he can, but the liberal Catholic’s raison d’etat is the same as that of liberals in the Episcopal church, which is to take-over the whole organization. He knows if he did split, he would end up like the leaders of the “Old Catholics.”
Under Pio Nono and the popes who followed, the Curia seems to have taken a lot out of the hands of the national bishops, and you have Rome getting involved in Germany on the side of the Catholic minority and being very suspicious of the American bishops. The collapse of Catholic power in France may have been owing to the bishops attachment to monarchy and Rome seems not to have suffered from that delusion.
Disturbing.
I never understood the Church’s attitude towards this issue. If a layman is accused of molestation the case is turned over to the police to be investigated and tried if warrented. When a priest was accused the Church stands around and says “Gee, what do we do now?”
If a priest breaks the law he should be treated like any other criminal. If a bishop covers it up he should be held accountable the same way a doctor or teacher would if they didn’t report an abuse. It’s not the Church’s place to decide what happens to clergy who break the law. That is a matter for the state. Clergy are not above the law. That includes bishops and cardinals. End of story.
In fallibility means that they cannot fail to preserve the truth, that they will not teach error, not that THEY won’t err. God has chosen the Jews, and he has chosen the Church, and he will keep his promises.
I think this doe snot take into account that MANY institutions do not turn over malefactor to the cops, but just get them out of sight and off to some other place. And it fails to notice that law officers are not eager to handle hot-potato issues. In part this comes from constant exposure to the seamy side of life. They know that some very respected citizens are morally corrupt, but for political reasons almost untouchable. They have to enforce uninforceable laws, such as those against prostitutions. St. Thomas had more sense than many of us about such things. He wrote, I think that prostitution was like a sewer system, and in human terms inevitable. Very respectable citizens use women like urinals, and do it all the time, It is illegal, but few men are held to account, and prostitutes of every social class continue to ply their trade. And what can the cops do about this?